


Face In The Sun

by OzzyOsgood



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Conchell, M/M, Slow Burn, dancer Mitchell, pianist Nico, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-02-19 19:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13130550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OzzyOsgood/pseuds/OzzyOsgood
Summary: While Mitchell is flipping through magazines obsessively, trying to get his life together, Connor is trying to find a shirt without ranch stains and jeans that don't look like he just pulled them out of a dumpster. Who'd guess that these weird times in their lives would bring them together ?





	1. Heavy Hitter

**Author's Note:**

> The majority of these characters belong to Rick Riordan and some of them were created by the amazing AO3 author Rosyredlipstick.

Mitchell

 

According to literally every single issue of Cosmopolitan ever, the best first step to get over your ex is to throw out everything that reminds you of them. Mitchell read that out loud to Scarlett and Drew as he was lying in his bed bunk in Cabin 10. It was early in the morning and everyone else was still fast asleep.

"I think we should do like a ritual, you know, make it official," whispered Scarlett from her own bunk thoughtfully.

Drew rolled her eyes, "He's trying to get over Austin, not join a cult."

Ouch. It was two weeks since they broke up, and hearing his name still felt as if someone ripped out his heart and ran it over with a truck.

"A ritual ?"

"Yes, like in Friends. You take the stuff that he gave to you, then you write a letter where you say everything you ever wanted say to him, but didn’t and then you set it all on fire," Scarlett sounded concerningly excited when talking about setting things on fire.

He was a little hesitant to burn the little things that reminded him of Austin but he knew he'd never get over him, if he kept them. Plus, Cosmo has always proven itself useful, in times of crisis.

Scarlett started looking for a bowl, while he opened his drawer.

 

Connor

 

Connor used to be a decent person. He used to shower daily, and wear T-Shirts without holes and brush his hair and hide his porn magazines under the mattress. Now he smelled like expired milk, perfected the homeless guy look, looked like Big Foot, chain-smoked and put his beloved literature on his bedside. 

He completely forgot about the younger campers until the morning when he woke up to the sound of rustling paper and saw Christina a.k.a. the cutest 8-year-old under the sun, flipping through one of them with wide eyes. He jumped up and snatched it from her little hands.

"That's not for you, sweetness."

"Who is it for, then ?"

"Lonely people over the age of 16," he put it in his backpack under the bed and ruffled Chris' hair. She forgot about the incident quickly, when Connor's scent got to her.

"You smell worse than Mr. D," she said and pinched her nose.

"Well, good morning to you too."

He looked around their cabin.

"Where is everyone ?" he asked Christina while putting on Travis's jeans.

"Breakfast."

"And no one bothered to wake me up ?"

"Travis said you'd be grumpy if we woke you up."

"Travis is a liar. I'm never grumpy when it comes to food. Why aren't you in the dining pavilion ?"

"I was on my way, but then I saw that."

"Speaking of which, how about we don't mention it to anyone else, huh ?"

"Oh, it's okay, Mom has plenty of such too."

Connor chuckled, took Chris' hand and walked with her to breakfast. There was not a more weightless feeling in the world than showing up to breakfast (fashionably late) smelly and messy and with a scrub, and not giving a single fuck.

He was going through something Travis liked to call "Connor's annual existential crisis". It was something like a middle age crisis, only it happened every year. Every single year, something triggered a week or two of him being depressed – no, wait, that's not the right way to put it. In a weird place, he'd say. Yes, that's it. This time it was a road trip with Travis and Katie. He was never really jealous of his brother. Why would he be ? They shared almost everything, did everything together... But watching your brother and best friend kiss his beautiful girlfriend happily, while realizing that you yourself have never been in love, or in a real relationship, was something to think about. 

And so, while thinking about himself and the reasons he doesn't have a boyfriend, he might have forgotten about everything else for a while. He was actually kinda starting to like the scrub.

He put a spoonful of dry Froot Loops in his mouth and then poured in a shot of milk from the gallon bottle. Christina scrunched up her nose. She was the most well-behaved individual at the Hermes table. He laughed at that and almost choked on Froot Loops, spitting out some milk in the process. Christina gagged. He laughed again when someone behind her caught his attention.

Mitchell looked like shit today, too. But even when he looked like shit, he still looked better than most people at their best. Connor kinda hated and loved that at the same time. He ran his hand through his pitch-black hair and smiled at something his brother said. 

The morning sun seeped in and put a halo around his head. Mitchell turned his face to the sun and closed his eyes for just a second before focusing on his breakfast again. He sipped something from his steaming mug. Connor felt like he was watching a slow-mo of a 2000's movie.

"Connor !" Travis yelled.

"Hm ?"

"Are you even listening to me ?"

"Not at all," he laughed to himself and Travis shook his head.

He finished his Froot Loops and went for a walk.

 

Mitchell

 

Burning things was way more fun than he thought it would be. After a bracelet, movie ticket, letter and 3 photographs, they were addicted. Scarlett started tearing random pieces of paper and rolling it into little balls. When they ran out of paper, Drew went out to get some dandelions, for Tumblr content. All before breakfast. Talk about productivity.

He had coffee for breakfast and tried his best not to look at the Apollo table. He did twice. Austin looked a little worn out, but otherwise good. He had a new hairstyle. He took out the cornrows and cut his hair short. Looked handsome. That made Mitchell kind of angry. 

He poured more sugar into his coffee as he listened to Sebastian's rant about Margot Robbie. Sebastian was the most helpful person when it came to break-ups because he didn't talk about them. He didn't make Mitchell relive it all over again, he just acted normally and talked about anything and everything to keep Mitchell sane. He loved him for that. 

As he was drinking, the shy spring sun peeked from behind the clouds to greet everyone good morning. Good morning to you too, he thought. Spring was always so pretty here. Season melting into season, it wasn't so cold anymore, but still not exactly T-Shirt weather.

After breakfast he decided to take a walk. He walked right into the middle of the strawberry fields. He took of his shoes and socks, so he could feel the damp soil under his feet. He lied down, looking at the ripe strawberries above him. It was about to be picking season and soon the fields would be full of campers with baskets under their arms. 

He closed his eyes and leaned on his side. He drank decaf, cause Piper convinced him it's more healthy that way and he didn't get a lot of sleep last night either...

 

Connor

 

After the too sweet, artificial breakfast Connor felt like he needed something juicy to remind him that he's still alive. As he was strolling through the fields, eating everything feeling like a caterpillar while doing it, he saw someone lying on the ground. 

He legit thought that he found a dead body at first, but when he got closer he saw it was just a sleeping son of Aphrodite. He was holding his glasses in one hand, his shoes next to him. Connor laughed quietly, and gently shook his shoulder. 

Mitchell opened his eyes, puzzled. It was a cute look, Connor thought.

"You should probably put those shoes on or you're gonna get sick."

Mitchell put his thin-framed glasses on his nose and blinked a few times.

"Oh hey, Connor ? Ehm, shoes, sure, you're right," he pulled the grey socks on his dirty feet and then proceeded to tie his shoelaces.

"We don’t really know each other that well, right ?" Connor asked.

"I don't think we do," Mitchell said, feeling more awake now.

"I'm Connor Stoll, at your service," Connor said playfully and offered Mitchell his hand. Mitchell laughed and shaked it.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm Mitchell. Mitchell Capewell."

"Do you normally fall asleep in strange places, Mr. Capewell ?"

"Definitely not, this was a one-nap stand."

"I was hoping you'd say yes, then we'd have something in common."

"What do you mean strange places ?"

"Literally anywhere, including the shower."

"Make sure to not mention that to Will, or he'll give you an hour long lecture on the importance of a good night's sleep."

"Noted," Connor smiled.

"I think I should get going now, I have something with my sister later," Mitchell got up and dusted off his skinny jeans.

"See you later ?"

"See me later."

 

Mitchell

 

Okay, that was unexpected. Mitchell didn't think of himself as the kind of person to casually hang out with the Stolls. He subconsciously thought they were too cool for him. Or consciously. He forgot about Connor soon enough though, because he saw Austin playing basketball with his siblings. He was wearing a tank top, sweating. 

As much as Mitchell tried to deny it, he looked hot. He walked past fast, hoping Austin wouldn't notice him, because he did not look hot in the least. It's not like he wants to get back together, no definitely not. He just wants him to know that he doesn't need him in his life. Right ?

He got to his cabin unharmed, washed his feet and focused on his face in the mirror.

"Thinking about plastic surgery, yet ?" Sebastian smirked from behind the new issue of Vogue.

"Yes, where did you get yours done ? Tell me, so I know where not to go."

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

"I want a haircut."

"Can I do it, can I do it ?? Pretty please," Scarlett jumped up and conjured up scissors out of thin air.

"I want to go short. But not too short. Like, just the right amount of short."

"Say no more," Scarlett pushed him into a chair, a brush already in her hand.


	2. Coffee Boi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter, sorry for the long wait. I don't know if any of you noticed, but every chapter is and is going to be named like a song that's vibe or theme I feel like fits the chapter. Last chapter was Heavy Hitter by Lana Del Rey and this one is Coffee Boi by Okey Dokey. Feel free to listen as you read. Hope you'll enjoy !

Mitchell

 

The most inconvenient detail about dating in camp was that you had to see that person even after you broke up. Mitchell carefully planned every part of his day just so he wouldn't run into Austin. This meant, that he absolutely could not go to Arts and Crafts with his siblings while the Apollo kids were in the music room. It sucked because he actually enjoyed Arts and Crafts. 

And so he went there in the evening, about an hour before dinner. He sneaked in quietly, pulled out a clean canvas and squeezed out some old oil paint. It's not like he was actually good at painting. That's Valentina's forte. But it calmed his down a lot to mix the colors and well, play around with them. He never painted anything more complex than flowers or fruit.

After about 15 minutes of painting lilies, he heard someone enter the music room which was connected to the room Mitchell was in, by an old blue door. The door was ajar, so he quietly stood up from his chair to see who interrupted his creative time. 

It could have been Austin, and he did not need that kind of awkwardness today. But it wasn't Austin. It was Nico.

Nico has changed a lot in the past months. He grew a few inches, gained a few pounds and he got a buzzcut. Mitchell had to admit he did look a lot more handsome and healthier now. 

He walked over to the piano in the corner of the room and sat on the small black chair in front of it. He put his long pale fingers on the black and white keys, as if he was dipping his hands in warm summer water and played a few gentle notes. Then he played a scale. And then again. And then again. 

Mitchell returned to his seat behind the canvas and continued to paint in silence. He didn't know that Nico played, but it wasn't that surprising to be honest. He did have musician fingers.

He tried playing the Moonlight Sonata. Mitchell recognized that one, because, well, who wouldn't ? He played for a minute or two, then stopped. He started from the top. And then again stopped. And then started all over again. And then again stopped. He heard a rainfall of angry sounds, probably Nico slamming his fist into the keyboard. And then he started again.

Mitchell smiled to himself.

After he somewhat finished his work of art, he went to change his stained shirt and headed for dinner.

 

Connor

 

Connor noticed Mitchell as soon as he entered the dining pavilion, because he was late. He had a new haircut and it made his jawline and cheekbones stand out even more. Connor stared at him for a little while before turning his attention back to his plate. 

After their little encounter in the strawberry fields he found himself thinking about "later". Maybe they could hang out again. He even found it in himself to shower that day.

 

Mitchell

 

It was eleven pm in the Aphrodite cabin, Mitchell was lying on his back, eyes closed, quietly listening to his siblings talking Drew out of getting bangs. He smiled to himself and turned around in his bed so he was now facing Sebastian who was - at the speed of light - texting on his phone. Mitchell pulled out his own phone (Aphrodite kids could use phones without the risk of getting killed) and scrolled through Sebastian's tumblr; smoke, leather jackets, neon signs, gay aesthetic that he loved more than he was willing to admit.

As he was doing so he got a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: hey, do u remember how u said "see me later" ? was that politeness or do u wanna hang out ?

Mitchell: who is this ?

Unknown: the prince of azerbaijan

 

Mitchell saved the contact as Connor.

 

Mitchell: when do you wanna hang out ?

Connor: what r u doin now ?

Mitchell: texting with the prince of azerbaijan

Connor: laundry room in 15 minutes

Mitchell: do you seriously think i can pick out an outfit in 15 minutes

Connor: 16 minutes

 

Mitchell hoped up and ran to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face and rummaged through his closet.  
"What do you think says 'I'm stylish, but I don't care' at the same time ?" 

"Black skinny jeans and that corduroy jacket," said Lacy.

"Are you kidding me, that has homeless and broke written all over it," Sebastian got up and pulled his leather jacket off the hanger by the door.

"I don't think this is really me," Mitchell looked into the mirror holding the jacket to his chest.

Sebastian raised a carefully plucked eyebrow: "Uhm, yeah, that's the point ?"

 

He walked into the laundry room with pomade in his hair, wearing a deep forest green sweater. Connor was sprawled on top of multiple dryers like a cat on hot asphalt.

"You're late."

"Where's the prince ?"

"He got annoyed, cause you were late so he sent me instead."

"Shit. Well, I guess you'll do. What are you doing on the dryers ? There's a couch right there."

"No shit. Come here, try it," Mitchell lied down next to him. The dryers were nice and warm, which made them more enjoyable than any couch could ever be.

"Not bad.”

"Did you change something about yourself since we last met ?" asked Mitchell while looking at Connor.

"I showered."

"Fascinating. I was thinking that you smelled better."

"Thanks, I even used soap. For dogs, but still," Mitchell laughed and relaxed. Deep down he expected this to be kind of weird.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I come bearing gifts," Connor reached to the inside pocket of his denim jacket and pulled out a Twix. 

"I had two, but Travis ate the other one, so we'll share," he ripped the golden wrapper and gave one of the two chocolate bars to Mitchell. He took a bite and let the chocolate melt in his mouth. His abs were not gonna look the same tomorrow.

"Where did you get my number, by the way ?" 

"I have resources."

"That is the creepiest thing anyone's ever said to me." 

Connor chuckled.

"I'm kidding, Sebastian gave it to me." 

"Sebastian ? When did that happen ?"

"Tonight, at the bonfire," Mitchell knew what that was about. Seb wanted to hook him up with Connor so he would get his mind off Austin. Not that he complained.

"So where are you from ?" asked Connor finishing his Twix.

"I live with Sebastian in California. His parents are basically my foster parents. How about you ?"

"New York, with my mom. Travis and I have been thinking about getting an apartment there."

"Wow, you can afford that ?"

"We have some money saved. Travis and I want to start a shipping company when he's done with college, but he'll probably want to move in with Katie by then."

"How long have they been together for ?"

"I don't know, uhm two years, maybe ?"

"That's a long ass time."

"I guess. I can't remember what it was like without her anymore. She's basically family." 

"Are you dating anyone ?" Mitchell surprised himself with that question. It sounded nosy.

"No, I've never really had a long-term relationship. What about you ?"

"I just broke up with someone."

"Sorry to hear that ?" 

Mitchell laughed again. 

Connor pulled out a thermos bottle out of his jacket. Mitchell wondered what else he's hiding in there and how much stuff it can hold.

"Do you like coffee ?"

"I'm more of a tea person, but I'll take it."

"Here you go," Mitchell took a sip and handed it back to Connor. 

"That's sweet as fuck."

"I pour sugar into literally everything, you better get used to it if we're going to be friends." Friends.

"More cream, less sugar."

"I'll see what I can do," Connor gave him an amused smile. The dryer underneath them beeped.

"That's my load," Connor kneeled on the tile floor to pull the clothes out.

He put them on top of the dryer and started folding.

"Are you gonna help me with this, or are you just gonna stare at me like you don't have holes in your underwear ?" 

"And here I was wondering why would you wanna hang out with me at 11 pm," Mitchell sighed but started folding anyways.

"I can multitask," Connor smiled. They continued to do laundry until midnight.


	3. I'm Stuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's song is I'm Stuck by Noah Cyrus, if you didn't know already.

The next place Mitchell and Connor hung out at wasn't any less strange than the previous one. It was a kitchen. The camp of course had a kitchen and Mitchell found out that if he cleaned up after himself and didn't get caught by the harpies it was pretty safe to take a trip there at night while everyone else was asleep.

He thought Connor would be asleep too at this time, but he decided to give it a shot anyway.

"Wait a second, so you can actually cook ?" Connor sat at the giant table in the middle of the room, swinging his feet.

"What did you think I meant by "come help me cook" ? And just a side note; the food you eat is being prepared at that table your ass is on right now," Connor ignored his remark and continued.

"I thought that by 'cook' you meant, like sandwiches and cocoa."

"I'm making crepes. That's as easy as a sandwich," Mitchell said while pulling out the different ingredients out of the cupboard.

"Crepes are basically thin pancakes, right ?"

"Thin, big, delicious, European pancakes. Nico thought me how to make them and now I can't go back," Mitchell took off his jacket and started whisking the batter. Surprised by his lean, pale arms, Connor was quiet for a second.

"I didn't know you were friends with Nico," Connor had to smile at the thought of Nico di Angelo in an apron teaching Mitchell how to cook.

"We get along. We met in the infirmary when Austin was stitching me up after Capture the Flag," Mitchell pulled out a pan and turned on the stove. 

"Okay, so the fun thing about crepes is the way you make it," Mitchell poured a bit of the liquid into the pan and swirled it around. He waited a little until little holes started forming at the top (which kind of gave Connor trypophobia), then he shook the pan a little until the crepe started moving. 

And then, with great confidence and faith he jerked his elbow forward and threw up his wrist, so the piece of dough flew out of the pan, made a flip and elegantly landed back in the pan.

Connor's jaw dropped dramatically.

"It's all in the wrist," Mitchell tried his best to seem nonchalant, even though this was, by far his best flip. Nico would be so proud if he'd been there.

"Not bad."

"Not bad ? This is probably the coolest thing you've seen all week, admit it. Go on, you try it," Mitchell handed him the empty pan. Connor did well until the flipping part. 

He hesitantly jerked the pan forward and nothing happened. On the fourth try the crepe actually flew up into the air but tore when it landed in the pan.

"Practice makes perfect," Mitchell smirked.

They made a bunch more until they had about ten crepes, some were nice, some were torn, but all were delicious. Connor smeared some Nutella on the first one.

"You're going to burn your tongue, let it cool first," Connor compromised and held a big piece of a rolled crepe on his fork, blowing air on it. He got tired of that after exactly 0.4 second.

"Fuck it," he put the food in his mouth, then choke-screamed and started panting with his mouth open. Mitchell rolled his eyes and handed him the water bottle.

"They're fucking amazing," said Connor after spitting it out into the trashcan and cooling his mouth down with water.

"I know," Mitchell smiled and held up a fork with an ideal temperature crepe on it. 

Connor leaned forward to eat it. They were so close. He was looking right into Mitchell's hazel eyes with dark circles underneath them, into his tired pale face, his tangled black hair.

He reached out and brushed flour off his cheek. There has been a moment of thick silence, before Mitchell started cleaning the dishes.

"Do you still want that cocoa ?"

"Surprised you ask," Connor smiled and put two mugs on the counter.

"My mom always makes cocoa for me and Trav. She puts whipped cream and cinnamon on top," Mitchell heated the milk in a saucepan while Connor was talking. 

"Are you telling me you want me to put whipped cream and cinnamon on top ?"

"It won't hurt."

"Look into the fridge. My dad makes cocoa too. Before he took that cooking class, it was pretty much all he could make without burning the house down." 

Connor took out the whipped cream bottle.

"Didn't you say you lived with Sebastian and his parents ?"

"I do, but I still have a Dad. He lost his job and told me he needed to get his life together, so it'd be better if I just stayed in camp, but Seb didn't wanna leave me here so he took me with him to California and his parents say yes to almost everything. They're the best people ever."

"Where does your Dad live ?"

"New Jersey. I haven't talked to him for a while now..."

"Poor thing. Living in Jersey… with New York right next to it…"

"Shut up," Mitchell said with a playful smile. He poured the milk into the cups that already had cocoa powder in them and Connor's mug a dangerous amount of sugar too. 

After that, Connor shook the bottle and made perfect swirls on top.

"Are you ever going to live with your Dad again ?" They sat down at the table, across from each other.

"This summer, probably. He got a decent job and he's looking for a new apartment. He says he wants me to come, he calls me all the time nowadays, asking me how I'm doing and so. I love California and the sunny days it provides, but I miss home."

"Yeah, I get that. You know, New Jersey is not that far from New York, if you ever wanna visit me," Mitchell smiled and sipped from his mug. 

The smell of cinnamon reminded him of Christmas.

"Have you ever been bowling ?" 

"Actually no."

"I know I cool place, we could go sometimes, I'll hit you up."

"Sure," Mitchell did not think about that until later that night when he was already lying in bed. Did Connor ask him out ? Nah, did not sound like a date. Connor was gay, he knew that. But he wasn't interested in Mitchell, he would have definitely noticed if that were the case. So maybe he just wants to be friends, after all. Mitchell didn't know why he felt a bit disappointed about that.

 

The moment right after you wake up. That little fraction of a second when you can't even recall your own name. The one happy moment of every day. Only for it to be ruined with all those memories and thoughts coming back to you. That was the usual. 

But that morning, things were a bit different, because it wasn't bad at all to remember what happened last night. Mitchell woke up much earlier than usual, but stayed in bed, feeling content with himself.

At breakfast his eyes, as always, drifted to Austin first. Austin, as it seemed, has forgotten about Mitchell completely. All that was between the two of them now, was the polite mandatory nod, when they saw each other. And Mitchell still jerked off to him. But that's a detail. 

Then he looked at Connor. He was eating crepes that morning. He must have felt Mitchell's gaze on him, because he looked back and smiled broadly and whole-heartedly. 

Mitchell felt naked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.


	4. Feels Like The First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time

Mitchell

 

"What would you say to an ice rink ?" Connor said when he found Mitchell one sunny Wednesday afternoon, sitting at the edge of a lake with his feet in the cold water. 

"What about it ?" he said when he looked up, looking through his fingers to shield his eyes from the pointy spring sun.

"We could go ice-skating !" Connor looked way to excited for Mitchell’s good. 

"Can’t, hurt my ankle yesterday."

"What did you do ?" Mitchell pulled his leg from the lake for Connor to see.

"Slipped on the climbing wall."

Liar. He sure slipped, not on the climbing wall though. He overheard Drew saying that Austin was having a sort of a date with a Demeter girl, Amy Marshall, in the sword fighting arena. So later that day he found himself casually walking past the arena and casually parkouring his way up to see through one of the small windows. He only saw Austin there, by himself and he would’ve stayed and waited for more if he didn’t slip, which left a dark bloody bruise Connor was currently looking at. He had a tiny feeling that something in his ankle snapped, but he didn’t want to get it checked out because Will would question him and he’d one hundred percent see through the bullshit.

Connor didn’t look completely convinced either, probably due to Mitchell’s lack of eye contact. He hated lying, especially to Connor.

"Okay then, no ice skating," Connor looked a bit disappointed, but quickly thought of something else.

"Hmm, I know this cool jazz bar in Manhattan, we could sneak out and check it out, what do you think ?" If he suggested any other location, Mitchell would question why would he want to sneak out with him in the first place, but all he could focus on were the words jazz bar. 

He loved jazz. Jazz and Billie Holiday and dimly lit bars and saxophonists... Probably one of the reasons he found Austin so fucking attractive, he adored the sound of the sax, but since they broke up he couldn’t bear to hear it. He’ll know that he’s finally over it when he can listen to it again. But what was he supposed to tell Connor ?

"How do you feel about milkshakes ?"

"You’ve been watching too much Riverdale." 

Mitchell laughed, because it was kinda true. He didn’t like the show at all and yet he binge-watched it all the time.

"Don’t worry, we won’t share one with two straws." 

Connor gave Mitchell an amused smile, the image already in his head.

"Milkshakes it is then, be ready at around 9 o’clock tonight," and with that he ran away.

 

20:35

After dinner, when everyone began to scatter to the bonfire, Mitchell took a quick trip to his cabin to put on his jacket, because it was beginning to get cold. He grabbed his phone and found two texts from Connor.

 

Connor: hope u didn’t forget about me

Connor: 21:00

 

Mitchell just stared and thought. Milkshakes. 9 o’clock. Connor Stoll.

He didn’t go to the bonfire, instead he stayed inside waiting for it to be 21:00. At 20:52 he got another text from Connor telling him to wait at the camp border for him. 

His two last remaining brain cells told him to text that he’s not going and just go to sleep, but his legs must’ve had a will of their own, cause at precisely 21:00 he was right there, at the camp border, waiting for Connor to get his ass there too.

"You’re late," said Mitchell at 21:11 when he saw Connor jogging up the hill.

"Keep your voice down," whisper-shouted Connor. He took Mitchell’s wrist and led him away from the camp. They walked for about 5 minutes in the dark - Connor still holding his wrist - until Connor pulled out his phone and called a Uber. 

"How will he even find us here ?" asked Mitchell, constantly thinking about Connor’s strong hand on his skin.

"He will," said Connor with confidence and let go of Mitchell’s wrist. And yes, ten minutes later there was a black car stopping by the side of the road. Connor opened the door for Mitchell, with a triumphal smirk.

The driver took them to Manhattan, just like Connor promised. It was a longer drive than usual because of the dark, but when they finally got out of the car and inhaled the chilly polluted air and took in all the lights, it was like drinking a ginger shot.

Connor led the way. They walked slowly this time, chatting lightly, throwing comments about what they were seeing, until Connor got them to a small and empty looking diner. 

Inside it didn’t look completely like in Riverdale, but with the privacy providing booths and neon sign lights it was very close. They found a booth next to the window.

"I have to say, not bad Connor, not bad at all," Mitchell took off his denim jacket and looked around.

When the waitress came, Connor ordered a double chocolate milkshake with whipped cream on top. Mitchell chose a sensible strawberry one.

"You actually drink strawberry milkshakes ?" 

"So ? They’re good."

"No, they’re not," Connor said slowly, like explaining something obvious to a 5-year-old.

"Have you ever even had one ?"

The waitress came in the exact right moment.

"Here you go, try it," Mitchell nudged the pink glass in Connor’s direction. Connor eyed it suspiciously, before taking a hesitant sip. Then he drank a bit of his own chocolate one. 

"Mine is so much better, you have no idea," Connor gave Mitchell his milkshake back. Mitchell grabbed the chocolate milkshake and had a sip himself. It left a cute little brown mustache above his upper lip. Connor wished he could take a picture of that.

Mitchell scrunched his nose, "Kinda basic."

"Said the guy with a denim jacket and Vans shoes."

When they were done, it was almost half past ten. Mitchell suggested they take a walk around the city. And so they did. Connor kicked into every can lying on the ground and Mitchell swirled around every lamp pole that they bumped into. 

They found a thrift shop that was still open and on sale. This time Mitchell dragged Connor in. They searched through everything, found a top that looked like the one Hannah Montana wore in the first ever episode, blazers with actual shoulder pads and jackets that smelled like you would expect the 80’s to smell. Connor tried on about every jacket he found, changing accents and personalities with every single one. 

They ended up looking at the sunglasses. Connor pulled out these heart-shaped, lana-esque ones that he gently put on Mitchell. Mitchell ended up buying them, because 99 cents. Connor bought white Jackie O styled ones for a dollar and 20 cents.

They left the thrift store happy and with shades on. At night. In spring. Who cares.

Their last stop before Connor called a Uber again was a grocery store. Mitchell bought them a bag of Cheetos, two Cokes and two lollipops because he thought it would go with the look.

They were laughing the whole way back, especially Mitchell at Connor’s impersonation of the grocery store cashier. When each of them parted ways to go back to their cabins, Mitchell spent a second or two looking at Connor walking away, enjoying the way the wind played with his already wild hair.

He brushed the thought off because of the pain in his now swollen ankle. He decided to make the trip to the infirmary, where the lights were still on, probably Will working late again. 

When he was close enough to see through the windows, he stopped.

He saw Nico and Will sitting on one of the beds, next and close to each other, laughing about something. Will was leaning in close and Mitchell wasn’t anything if not a good friend. 

His ankle could wait, he thought, before walking away with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed ! If you have any suggestions, I’m happy to hear them.


	5. Diamond Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's song is by Cruel Youth. Enjoy !

Will was quickly making his way to the Hades Cabin with a bag full of medication and a bunch of other things sick Nico would hopefully appreciate. He started coughing like crazy a few days ago and today he didn't show up at breakfast, so Will decided to visit him. 

He softly knocked on the door and heard shuffling inside. He knocked again and heard a grunt, which he took as an invitation. 

He slowly opened to door to see a thick blanket and a black fringe peeking from underneath it. The mountain of tissues by the sides of the bed made Will worry, since Nico was oddly enough, quite cleanly.

He made his way through the mess to sit at the side of Nico's bed. He didn't greet him when he entered, which again was worrying because Nico dwelled on such manners. 

He pulled down the blanket just enough to show his face. He was even paler than usual, so a shade lighter than white. His hair looked greasy, he had bags under his eyes, his lips looked chapped and his nose was a nasty shade of red. Will didn't understand how he still looked so cute.

"How are you feeling ?" asked Will and gently pressed the back of his hand to Nico's forehead. It was way too hot.

"Like shit," Nico answered quietly, sounding like a 90-year-old smoker with stage three lung cancer. 

"Don't talk. Blink once for yes, twice for no," instructed Will, while pulling things out of the medicine bag.

"Do you feel dizzy, is your head spinning ?" Nico blinked once extremely slowly, like he was about to fall asleep mid-blink.

"Are you feeling nauseous ?" Blink.

"Did you throw up ?" Blink.

"Do you feel hot and then cold and then hot over again ?" Blink.

"Sit up," Nico did so. He was wearing a dark grey T-shirt, drenched in sweat.

"Where do you keep your clothes ?" Will asked, and Nico pointed to a dresser in the corner of the room. Will walked over there and pulled out a clean white T-shirt. 

"Arms up," he said playfully, but Nico was already pulling his T-shirt over his head. His arms got tied up there and he stopped for a second deciding whether he should go through the trouble or just die already. 

He took the shirt off and motioned Will to hand him the clean one. Will stared for just a second before going back to reality and handing him the shirt, looking away nervously.

He dumped the rest of the bag's content onto Nico's bedside table. There was cough syrup, throat spray, more tissues, nasal spray, painkillers, nose ointment, menthol candy, ambrosia, a thermometer and most importantly two thermoses full of hot tea.

"Open," Will said and looked at Nico’s red and swollen throat. He put the thermometer into his ear. He had a fever. Demigods didn't get sick like this very often, since they often ate ambrosia and drank nectar but when a flu hit them, it hit them hard. He felt his neck, all lymph nodes. 

Nico was lying flat on the bed, his breathing shallow and blinking painfully slow. He resembled a 112-year-old turtle.

"I'm sorry to say this but you're gonna need to sit up again. Come on, you'll feel better soon," Nico would groan if his throat didn't hurt like a motherfucker. He sat up while Will fed him teaspoons of various kinds of medication that Nico gulped down with tea gratefully.

"How was your day ?" Nico asked through the pain.

"Don't talk. It was fine. I talked to Connor earlier, he said he went on a date with Mitchell," Nico cocked a curious eyebrow.

"He looked so happy when he was telling me, it was really sweet. But then Mitchell came to the infirmary, so I could take a look at his ankle and when I hinted on it he just said that they hung out. As friends."

Nico had a look of pity on his face and Will could relate.

"I know. But Mitchell will come around sooner or later. He just needs a little time to stop thinking about Austin," Nico opened his mouth to talk and Will put a hand over it before he could.

"Don't. Talk."

Nico pushed his hand away.

"The tea helped, thank you. What even happened between the two of them ?"

"Well, from what I know, Austin just lost feelings over time and felt like he was lying to himself by being with Mitchell and so he broke up with him," said Will as he was writing notes on the labels of all the medicine bottles, so Nico would know when to take what.

"Was it bad ?"

"Mitchell was heartbroken, still is, I think. But he said that he doesn't and can't blame Austin. Still, it's sad," Nico nodded in understandment.

"I know we wanted to watch that movie tonight, but you probably shouldn't come, you could catch it from me," Nico said apologetically.

"My immune system is the Mike Tyson of immune systems, don't worry," Will smiled. He'd want to watch that movie with Nico even if he had the plague.  
Nico smiled. 

"I'll wear a mouth drape though, just in case," Will said and wrote on the last label.

"Stay in bed, drink all the tea and shower later, it'll make you feel better," Nico lied down and said a quiet, tired thank you before closing his eyes.

 

.........

 

Will knocked on Nico's door for the third time that day. He came in after he heard a vague "Come in."

Nico must've took a shower, because he looked much fresher now. He was probably still pretty tired though; his eyes were half closed. He moved the side of the bed to make space for Will as soon as he saw him.

"Hi there, feeling better ?"

Will opened the laptop, he borrowed from the Hephaestus cabin for this occasion and opened the film tab. They wanted to watch I, Tonya because it turned out that Nico adored Margot Robbie and honestly Will couldn't say different about himself.

Will lied down next to Nico, keeping a polite distance, pulled the blanket over his own feet and handed Nico the snack bag he brought (second bag of the day). Nico looked inside.

"Are you fucking kidding me ?" he asked, holding up the banana.

"You threw up earlier, need to go easy on the stomach now," Will said, clearly amused.

Nico sighed and pulled out a toast from the bag. An ordinary, dry toast. Not even butter. He chewed slowly and questioned his life choices.

Will pressed start and had to scoot a little closer so both of them could see. Their shoulders and thighs were touching. Nico tried to focus on the film, but not even Margot Robbie could get his attention now. Will's thigh was burning holes into his own and he could hear his own heartbeat. He felt this weird combination of excitement, shyness, calmness and arousal inside his stomach.

He ate the toast quickly and sipped tea for the rest of the film. Towards the end his eyelids felt heavy and his head started to drop.

"I can't imagine how Mitchell feels," he said tiredly, after the movie ended.

"Where did that come from ?" Will said, his words muffled by the mouth drape.

"I was thinking about it. How do you just lose feelings for someone ? I mean, I know it happens, but can you imagine how horrible it must feel when you still like that person ?" he asked and had another gulp.

"I don't think any teenager can," Will said, surprised by Nico's words. He closed the laptop and they continued to talk in the dark.

"It kinda makes you think," he added.

"About what ?" Will asked and turned his head to look at Nico's face even though he didn't see much.

"If anything's even real."

"Damn,” Will whispered, “you need to stop reading those depressive ass books. Just because something doesn't last forever, doesn't mean it's not real," Will said and twisted a lock of Nico's messy raven hair around his finger.

"The meds you gave me are making me emotional."

"Is it the meds or the movie ?"

"I don't know, both ? It was a good fucking movie by the way."

"I know, right ?"

They spent some time talking about it until Nico was too tired to continue. They stayed in bed and Will didn't seem to want to get up and go back to his cabin anytime soon. 

Nico didn't mind. He moved closer to Will's warmth and fell asleep in a few seconds. Will followed shortly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you thought it was a good chapter. Feel free to tell me your opinions, suggestions and ideas below.


	6. Take Me Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

Nico was watching Will's toes play around in the damp sand, from where he was sitting beside him with shoes on. His eyes drifted upwards to his ankles, knees, thighs, torso, arms all the way to the bridge of his almost invisibly freckled nose. 

His eyes were closed, and a small smile lingered on his lips.

Nico fumbled with the hem of his sleeve, his heart beating so fast he couldn't even hear his own thoughts, trying to find the courage to reach out and touch his face.

Going through Tartarus was less scary than this. Just as he was about to let go of his sleeve, Will turned to face him and opened one eye playfully.

Nico turned his face to the sky. The sun was just coming out from behind the grey clouds. It rained yesterday and though the camp was not affected by that the air was still damp. The birds were chirping, which was almost unnoticeable now, like the ticking of a clock that you get used to.

Spring was in full swing and Nico was enjoying the not-so-full camp as much as he could.

He didn't want the summer to come just yet. He just wanted to stay there, on the empty beach, looking down at smiling Will whose eyes were closed again. Nico used to think of himself as brave, but now being here trying to do something he's wanted to do for months and constantly telling himself "now" only for it to be replaced with "later", he felt like a coward.

Will's chill attitude didn't help. Or maybe it did ? He didn't know anymore.

Just do it. Just fucking do it.

It's like when people try bungee-jumping. They come there all excited and ready but as soon as they're finally standing there, at the edge, they just can't do it. Yes, there is a harness. Nothing bad is gonna happen. But looking down into the abyss, it certainly doesn't feel like it. Nico would give anything for someone to just push him. Or for Will to jump instead.

He rubbed his eyes, tired of himself and lied down next to the blonde.

The sky cleared out completely, the sun warm on their faces.

"Sun's nice," his face was drowning in sunlight, mouth parted, eyes brighter than ever, making the afternoon sky look dull in comparison.

"The simple joys of life," Nico said sarcastically.

Will touched his jawline with the tip of his finger.

"Is that a razor burn ?" Will grinned.

"Maybe."

"You’re a man now," Will laughed and withdrew his hand.

"Can I touch your face ?" he blurted out.

He didn't even have the time to get embarrassed before an amused Will said, "Sure."

Nico slowly put his finger above Will's nose and moved along the arch of his sandy eyebrow until there was nowhere else to go so he continued tracing a fast line across his temple, soft cheek and the edge of his jaw before burying his hand back in the sand like a scared ostrich.

He remembered his friend Alex when he was in California, walking on the beach and eating sundae, her flip flops and wavy her and tan skin and the way she touched his face. And he remembered that it felt nice. Really nice.

And then he compared the memory of that feeling - the really nice feeling of someone wanting to be around him and touch him even, to what he was feeling right now - the absolutely earth-shattering, chest-ripping feeling he felt in his stomach and chest, in his fingertips the feeling he got from the slightest touch that made him feel like he's never felt anything before, accompanied by the deafening sound of his own bloodstream and prayers that Will doesn't hear it too.

Nico was aware of everything from the texture of the sand underneath his hands to the familiar and arousing way Will's scent hit his nose every time he inhaled, mixed with the ocean and strawberries and his own deodorant that he could smell now because he was sweating under his sweater.

Will didn't say a word, he looked thrilled but peaceful at the same time, a combination only he seemed to be able to pull off.

"I'm looking forward to the summer, you know. We'll go to the beach all the time and I'll teach you how to surf," he looked so happy Nico almost didn't tell him that he had no intention in learning how to surf.

"Don't worry, we'll start out with baby waves," his easiness was contagious. Nico didn't know if he wanted to kill him, kiss him or touch his other eyebrow. All three. Not necessarily in that order.

Nico caught a few figures in his peripheral vision, walking their way.

"We should go," he said abruptly, already standing up and brushing the sand off of him.

"It's just a few people, Nico," Will looked up at Nico's stretched out hand offering to help him stand up.

"Let's go anyways," Will sighed internally but decided not to ruin the day and accepted Nico's hand. It was awfully strong but delicate at the same time. A hand to hold a sword but a one you want to kiss too.

Will watched the sun reflect in Nico's eyes as they walked by, the promise of summer already there.

 

Meanwhile in the Hermes Cabin

 

Mitchell flipped a page in the magazine and smirked to himself. Connor lying at the foot of the bed, held another magazine above his head, his curly hair being pulled down by gravity, his shirt riding up a bit, revealing a strip of muscle.

"How long have you been hoarding these ?" asked Mitchell studying a picture.

"I prefer the term collecting."

"Doesn't answer the question."

"Ever since I was… wait a sec… uhm eleven I think ?"

"Where did you find these at eleven ?" Mitchell said with a smile in his voice.

"I had my resources."

Mitchell laughed and looked at the pile of vintage porn magazines on the bed.

"There's a lot of straight ones here. When did you figure out you were gay ?" asked Mitchell while looking at a shy twink getting fucked by a 40-year-old hairy-chested lumber jack.

"It took me a long time to realize that when I was looking at straight porn I was always watching the guy. Then I thought that I was bi. Dark times," he shook his head and widened his eyes for dramatic effect.

"It took me a long time to come out," added Connor, "Did you always know ?"

"Yes and I came out when I was like ten. My dad just laughed, but never questioned it." 

Connor chuckled lightly and sat up.

"The others will be here soon, I think we should put these away," he started picking up all the scattered goldies, bringing back blissful memories.

"Yeah, sure," said Mitchell.

He helped Connor put everything safely under the mattress, wondering how it even fit in there.

"Do you want to do something fun ?" asked Connor as he stretched his lean arms over his head. Mitchell's knees felt weak all of a sudden.

"Like ?"

"I don't know, go swimming ?"

"The water would be freezing."

"Yeah, you're right. We could play basketball ?"

"I don't feel like moving a finger today. Why do we have to do something fun ? Let's just lie in the grass or something."

"Sounds like fun to me."

The way Connor's lips curved around his teeth haunted Mitchell in his dreams.

The grass was a bit dewy but neither of them seemed to mind. Maybe they just wanted to be together. Just exist. Next to each other.

"Have you ever hooked-up with someone ?" asked Mitchell, his back against the trunk of a tree.

"Why do you ask ?" Connor was a bit startled by the question. Mitchell shrugged.

"Have you ?"

"A couple of times. You ?"

"Never."

"Really ?"

"What do you mean by that ?"

"Nothing."

"Is it any good ?"

"What ?"

"Hook-ups."

"Depends on the person, I guess. But generally, yeah."

Mitchell stared into the void for a while, eyes blank.

"Maybe I should try it…”

"Why ?" that came out a bit more hysterical than Connor intended it to.

"Trying new things is important. You said that, mister."

"It's not that good, you know."

"You just said it is, like 20 seconds ago."

"I changed my mind. You share body fluids with an individual that may or may not have gonorrhea and you wake up feeling like a slut."

"Connor, why are you upset ?"

"I'm not. Let's change the subject."

"Okay, what's your favorite color ?"

"Blue."

"You're not even gonna give me a shade ?"

"I like them all. What's yours ?"

"I can never decide."

"Top three."

"Blue, yellow, pink."

"Viagra, sunshine, cotton candy."

"What ?" Mitchell laughed.

"Nothing.”


	7. Candy Wrappers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summer Salt - Candy Wrappers

Tennis shoes. Soccer calves. Tennis shoes. Soccer calves.

Both of those things, hypnotizing Mitchell one Sunday morning in the training pavilion when Connor was jump roping. 

Mitchell sat on the ground, back against the wall, watching Connor's feet move up and down rhythmically, perfectly synchronized with the swings of the rope.

"Why are you good at this ?" asked Mitchell after full two minutes of uninterrupted jumping. 

"I used to do this all the time as a kid," said Connor easily, not even breaking a sweat, breathing normally, like he did this every day.

"You have stamina," said Mitchell and drank from his bottle.

"I run a lot," Connor smiled.

"I've never seen you run."

"Really ? We should go together. Really gets your mind off of things," Mitchell immediately thought he was talking about Austin, but he couldn't have. Mitchell didn't tell him anything. He could've but he figured it'd make him look sad. 

Also, he didn't want to pollute their new friendship with his own problems. He wanted to keep things the way they were, he wanted to keep seeing Connor, because he found out he almost wasn't thinking about Austin when he was near him and he didn't want Connor to feel uncomfortable around him.

"Sure we can, I like swimming more though," Connor finally started breathing heavily.

"I suggested swimming, you said it was too cold," Connor said and stopped jumping.

"It's warmer today," Mitchell smiled and the look on his face - mischievous in an endearing way - was one Connor hasn't seen before, but he sure wasn't complaining.

"Meet me on the beach ?" asked Connor.

"Three-ish ?"

"Okay, see ya," said Connor after he winded the rope around his hand and took the water bottle from Mitchell. As he did so he held onto Mitchell's fingers a millisecond longer than necessary.

 

Mitchell felt like the first person to arrive at a party, when he stood at the shore at 14:45.

He was jittery all afternoon. His siblings were busy with themselves and Connor was probably too, and Mitchell didn't do anything besides half-sleeping, half-reading for a few hours.

He got up at 14:00 to try on his swimsuit. He had two, one of which was torn. The other one - the red one he figured out was good enough. He took a trip to the bathroom to shave his armpits, brush his teeth and do his hair. It was when he was plucking his eyebrows he asked himself why he was doing that. He put down the tweezers and flopped back on the bed, feeling awkward because Connor probably didn't even think about this the whole afternoon, while he was here, pacing.

He laid down on the sand and put his arm over his eyes cause the sun was shining painfully brightly on his face.

His skin felt nice, thanks to that Aloe Vera mask he stole from Drew just twenty minutes ago. Yes, he did that too.

Connor came shortly after three o'clock, looking as chill and excited as ever.

"I'd be here sooner, but Christina spilled tomato soup on me. And on herself. And on the wall," he pulled his sweater and T-Shirt over his head in one swift motion, which was a cinematic moment and Mitchell was aware of it, because he felt like people on TV when they are on drugs and they see everything in bright colors and slow motion.

"It's okay I've only been here a couple minutes," trying to sound cool.

He pulled off his shirt too, but it probably didn't look as good as when Connor did it. Connor was only about an inch taller than Mitchell, but he had broader shoulders, and a warm complexion which along with his toothy smile and cute as fuck curly hair blended into this slightly confusing combination of cute and hot. 

Like the kind of boy that kisses his mom on the cheek to greet her, but also the one that people like to invite to their pool parties.

They tipped their toes into the wet sand and waited for the waves to come crashing around their ankles. Mitchell inhaled sharply when it happened, because, damn was it colder than he expected, but Connor only hurled himself forward.

"Wait !" Mitchell tried to keep up with him, low-key screaming every time he dipped in further. When the water reached their mid-thighs, Connor stopped.

"Okay, this is the hardest part," he pointed to his crotch, "that's why we just have to dive in. On three. One."

"Wait, what ?"

"Two."

"No no no no no no !"

"Three !" Connor threw himself chest first into the blue, pulling Mitchell with him. 

"Motherfucker !" Mitchell swam and tried to get the water out of his nose and Connor just laughed.

Soon, another splash of water hit his face. Connor didn't stop laughing once, which was good for him, because it was contagious.

They spent the next twenty minutes letting themselves get carried away by the waves or trying to drown each other or make each other blind by splashing the salty water everywhere.

They got out when their lips turned shades of blue and purple. They pulled on their sweaters quickly, but it didn't help their wet swimsuits.

"I don't wanna go back yet, but I'm freezing," said Mitchell, playing around in the sand.

"Me neither. There's a hot spring in the forest, though."

"What, really ?"

"There's all kinds of weird shit there. It tends to shift." 

"Won't we get attacked by monsters ?"

"I'm ready," Connor opened his backpack filled with strange bottles and items Mitchell couldn't even name.

"You brought all this, but you didn't bring a pair of dry pants ?" Connor's ears turned pink.

"You planned this," Mitchell sat on the heels of his feet. 

"I just wanted to show you the spring," Connor looked flustered and it was kinda cute so Mitchell didn't tease him too much.

They got to the indeed hot spring after about ten minutes of walking. The forest was scary, but Mitchell didn't want to worry, didn't want to be the buzzkill, so he let Connor worry and lead the way through the web of trees and tall grass, illuminated by the afternoon sun.

He enjoyed the way the sun shined through the now green leaves of the trees, reflecting off of the water drops on Connor's face.

The spring was enveloped in a circle of tall oak trees, making it a private looking spot. It looked a bit like an in-the-ground hot tub, only bigger.

"This looks almost artificial," said Mitchell, eyeing the water suspiciously, but he had to admit that the steam lifting off of the surface looked alluring.

"This whole forest only gets weirder the deeper you go," said Connor and threw his backpack on the ground.

"Leo could tell you about it," he added and took off his shoes. Mitchell took off his sweater and carefully dipped himself into the hot water.

It was pretty shallow, just enough to cover his whole body when he kneeled down. He almost groaned when he got in, the steam entering his soul through his pores. Connor followed him and probably had a similar sensation, judging from the way he closed his eyes and leaned his head back to wet his hair.

They were there for about fifteen minutes when they started getting sleepy. Hot water does that to you; turns your mind and muscles into goo. Looking back, when Mitchell was falling asleep that day in his bunk, he was extremely grateful that nothing has disturbed them, because he wasn't so sure they could fight it in such an exhausted state. 

When he fell asleep that night, for the first time in forever, he didn’t see his fingers running through Austin's coarse hair, but white tennis shoes jumping everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment or a suggestion, it gives me life reading them.


	8. Ribs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay, school and everything. I hope you enjoy this chapter !  
> (Lorde - Ribs)

Connor

 

It was late afternoon when Mitchell came to visit. Connor was just after a shower, lying in his bed with damp hair, and flipping through a magazine he fished out of his sister's stack. 

It was a fashion magazine, so Connor didn't bother reading a word and skipped straight to the haute couture pages. There was this particular dress that caught his eye, long but revealing at the same time and so unbelievably pink it made him crave cotton candy.

A knock on the door. He didn't answer, expecting that whoever was behind the door would just invite themselves in. That's how things were in the Hermes Cabin, they didn't throw anyone out. But when all that followed was just silence, he rolled his eyes and straightened up.

"Come in, Mitch," he walked rather coyly through that door. It made Connor uneasy.

"How did you know it was me ?" he closed the door and sat on Connor's bunk bed.

"You're the only one that's polite enough not to come right in. Also, fuck you, you're stealing my style there," he said pointing to the plaid shirt he was wearing over a white T-shirt.

"You don't even wear plaid."

"No, but the aesthetic is mine."

"What can I say, you inspire me," Mitchell smiled slightly. He sat hunched over at the edge of the bed, which along with the plaid shirt and his paler-than-usual face didn't make him look so good.

"Are you okay ?" he didn't like asking that. Over the last month he got used to seeing Mitchell's smiley energetic persona, he didn't want him to be as sad as when they first started talking. It didn't suit him, at all.

"Yeah, I stayed up yesterday, reading a very sad book, it fucked with me a little," and again that slight apologetic smile. Connor hated that smile. Things would be so much easier if they just started dating already. Then he could hug him or sweet-talk him out of that state and it wouldn't be weird.

"This is nice, by the way. We don't get a lot of privacy, do we ?" Said Mitchell, looking around the empty cabin. It caught Connor off guard. What does he mean privacy ? He wants to have "privacy" with Connor ?

"I guess not. Do you wanna lay down ?"

"Sure."

Sure. A nonchalant cool sure. Just like that. Sure.

Connor scooted over, and Mitchell laid his head just inches away from his. He was close to him like this before, but every time it just got more painful. It was like smelling a chocolate chip cookie. He didn't want to just smell it, he wanted to fucking eat it and get type 2 diabetes from it.

"What's that ?" Connor handed him the magazine. Mitchell's eyes sparkled when he saw the pink dress.

"This one is just beautiful. Simple and yet it burns your eyes. In a good way."

"I know what you mean," he leaned closer to Mitchell, under the excuse of seeing the dress better. His hair smelled like mint, but there was still that faint scent of cologne lingering on his skin. The chocolate was melting and steaming.

He turned to his side and buried his nose in Mitchell's shoulder. He told himself, it'd be better to do the scary thing first and worry about it later. 

Mitchell felt like a salt statue for the first few seconds until Connor could feel his muscles relax and his body sink deeper into the mattress. He continued to flip through the glossy pages and let Connor inhale the smell of him, let it sharpen his senses, boil his blood and make him do something.

He put his hand on Mitchell's chest, teasing fingers slowly tugging at the hem of his shirt. Mitchell quietly put the magazine away and caressed his wrist. Connor propped himself up, face nanometres from Mitchell's. He leaned down and brushed his lips against his gently, not kissing them just yet. Mitchell was waiting.

"What are you doing ?" he asked with a smile, a bright one this time. 

"Taking the chocolate chip off the top."

"What ?" 

He dropped it and kissed him full on. In the back of his mind, in the tiny part of his brain that was still somewhat capable of thinking rationally, he realized that they don't really have privacy. Any of his siblings could just barge in at any moment.

Mitchell gripped his face with his left hand while the right one slipped all the way down to his stomach, going further. Connor was all over the place, he didn't know whether he should touch his face, take off his shirt or maybe fuck him in the bathroom, so he kind of tried to do all three. He has to eat that cookie fast, before someone rips it out of his hands.

He pulled Mitchell off the bed and closer to him, hands and teeth.

They walked-stumbled to the bathroom, where Connor symbolically kicked the door shut and pushed Mitchell up against it, desperately trying to take off his shirt and then his T-shirt and then his skin and then his ribcage and digest his fucking heart.

When he pulled his own T-shirt off, Mitchell sobered up. Flushed and breathing heavily he said: "I think we should take it slower." 

"Why ?!" It came out a little more upset and aggressive than Connor meant it to.

"I just..."

"I'm sorry." said Connor quietly.

"No, I'm sorry. It's just that..." he trailed off and with shaking hands picked up his shirt from the floor. Connor felt like he violated him. 

Why was Mitchell acting like that ? He was clearly into it.

"Did I do something ? You didn't like it ?" Inside he was on the verge of crying. The cookie just crumbled in front of his eyes. 

"No, I did. It's not that. It's not you, I promise. I-I need to go," and with that he just vanished. Well, that word would be too kind. He ran out of that bathroom, out of the cabin, out of sight. 

He left Connor standing on the cold tiles, barefoot and shirtless, with the taste of strawberry chapstick on his tongue.


	9. Live For Today

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Atomics - Live For Today

Mitchell spent the following days inside. He explained it to himself as "taking time to think", but you already know he was hiding. Connor knocked on the Cabin 10 door twice already and both times Mitchell sent one of his sisters to tell him that he's not feeling well or he's sleeping or whatever. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't answer the "why ?". Because he didn't know why. Or maybe he did, but he didn't want to share it with him.

The fact that the weather was getting sunnier and warmer every day didn't help him at all. If it was cold, he'd at least have a valid excuse to avoid his responsibilities. Another side effect of warm, late-spring days was that his siblings were out more and more, discussing swimsuit trends and new sunscreens and he was alone in there, because Connor would be out too, but he couldn't be inside either, because Connor would definitely come again soon and he won't have anyone to lie to him and so he needed a new hiding place. 

How does the saying go ? At tough times you know a friend ? Something like that. That friend was in this case Will. He, without questions, let Mitchell stay in his head medic...office ? for the day.

It was a small room, with a desk stacked with papers and an armchair in the corner, a place where Mitchell could read quietly. After a while he got tired of the story line, so he opened the door ajar to see what was going on in the infirmary. It was a peaceful day there, too. Most campers were trying out the water for the first time that year, where besides drowning weren't that many dangers to worry Will's good heart.

It was just him and Nico and a few other medics that seemed to just walk from place to place, talk to their friends and have a lovely day.

Mitchell felt low-key guilty and like a shit friend and all for watching them, from behind the door and so, but... I don't know, can you really judge him ? 

Watching them, was like his own personal soap opera. Their relationship was so bizarre and yet it made perfect sense. It's like when you cook carrots with paprika for the first time and you don't think it's gonna be good, but then it turns out fantastic and your life is changed forever.

They were sitting on those office chairs with wheels, swinging their legs, chatting about something, smiling, casually touching each other (!) in that "I'll try this and see what happens, please don't get mad" manner.  
Nico softly kicked him in the shin and Will then pressed down on his foot with the arch of his own foot, so they were sitting there sort of just holding feet now ? And they didn't break eye contact. 

Seeing Will around Nico was like watching one of those snake charmer videos. Nico really was kind of like a snake in that way. If you approached him slowly, too carefully he'd get suspicious and bite. Not literally, of course. Not most of the time. A snake you simply have to reach for and grab it to let it get used to you. Will had that figured out by now. 

They got along in a weird way, Nico was one of the few people that found Will's nerdy ass jokes funny and Will got Nico's sense of humor and above all they made each other a better person, and everything was so simple for them, Mitchell thought. No exes, no past disappointments, none of that. He stopped himself there, because he realized it probably wasn't true. Everyone had their own issues. He should know first-hand.

He walked away from the door and slammed himself back into the mustard-colored velvet armchair so the sun, seeping in through the windows, was directly in his face. He let the soft dance of the dust particles in the air put him to sleep.

 

. . .

 

He woke up to a strong hand gently shaking his shoulder and whispering his name. He opened his eyes slowly, half of his brain still dreaming, expecting to see Will. But instead of his sky-blue eyes, the ones before him resembled glowing glaciers, or cough drops, or the color of water right before you reach the surface to breathe or everything in between. For a split second he was happy to see them until everything came back to him.

He must've looked panicked cause Connor started panicking too.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's me. I was looking for you, but your siblings didn't know where you were, so I asked Will and he told me you were reading here and it's kinda late, so I was worried, you know, so I thought I'd come to see you and yeah, here I am, so... Are you okay ?" 

Mitchell sat up straight. It really was dark outside and the only light in the room was the lamp on the desk which Connor must've turned on. He tried to swallow, but couldn't, his mouth was dry all of a sudden.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I was just...tired, I guess. I like to sleep with the sun in my face."

"You're way too pale to say that," Connor laughed nervously. He was wearing gym shorts and those white tennis shoes again. Fuck.

He sat opposite Mitchell, on the office chair. The light there made him look even prettier than usual, like from a sappy 90's movie, curls and all.

"So how was your day ?" Mitchell asked, ignoring the elephant in the room.

"Oh, it was fine. It would have been better if you didn't avoid me as much as possible, but it was fine." 

Mitchell pulled out the book from under him and played with the paperback, not meeting Connor's eyes.

"Can we talk ?" Connor asked, dropping the sarcasm. He sounded pleading, like he was afraid Mitchell was just gonna run away again.

"Yeah," Mitchell did everything he could not to look at him. He might start crying. The worst thing is he didn't even have a real reason, he was just so overwhelmed, and Connor sounded so hurt...

"First of all, I'm sorry. For whatever I did that scared you or offended you and if you don't like me in that way, we can just forget about it, but I still want to see you and hang out with you and hear from you and please, don't just ghost me like this, I can't stand this, I literally almost went crazy these past few days and I'm sorry about everything, I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me and-"

"Shut up."

"What ?"

Mitchell laughed. It was a strained laugh, the kind you make when you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

"It's... not like that."

"Like what ?"

"Like you scared me. You didn't scare me. None of this is your fault, you did nothing wrong, Con. Fuck, I was sending you signals..." 

Connor went quiet for a while.

"So, it's because of Austin ?" Mitchell finally looked up.

"What do you mean ?"

"I talked to Piper."

"What ?"

"Please, don't be mad at her, I bribed her real hard to spill it,"

Mitchell rubbed his eyes and crossed his legs on the armchair, so he could hide his face behind his knees.

"What did she tell you ?"

"That the break-up fucked you up and that you're still not completely over it, despite what you say and that you're probably not ready for a new relationship even if you wanted it."

Mitchell laughed that strained laugh again.

"EVEN if I wanted it,"

"What ? What's funny ?" 

"I like you so fucking much, Connor. Do you have any idea how much I think about you ? If I got a penny for every time you crossed my mind, I'd be living somewhere in a villa in Monaco now, with a fucking tiger on a golden fucking leash."

He kept looking down at the book cover, bending the corner forth and back.

"And it's like... I want to be with you and I want you to like me so hard, but then I just remember how much I wanted Austin to like me and then he just stopped, you know and I don't want to put myself through that again, but at the same time I do and I do more than I don't, but then in the bathroom, it was all so real and I just had a full on panic attack and I am so so sorry, because you deserve someone who's not living in the past and I really want to be that person and I am when I'm with you, but then I go home and it just comes back to me and it's so complicated..."

"Wait, what, you like me ?" 

"Isn't it obvious ?"

"Not to me, no," Connor knitted his eyebrows.

"You're so cute," said Mitchell.

Connor smiled and then his smile got wider and wider and wider until it didn't fit his face anymore.

"Do you still like Austin ?"

"I don't, but I guess, I still have trust issues. But no, I don't think about him that way, if that's what's you're asking."

"Wow, you really overreacted there."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. So just for recap - you like me, and I like you, but you're kinda scared, because of your ex ?"

"Correct. I know it sounds stupid, but when I was starting to like you, I was still thinking about Austin and it put me in this really weird mindset."

"God, you're difficult. I thought you Aphrodite kids were over things like trust issues or disappointments."

"We're only half gods, okay," Mitchell felt like the weight of the world has just been lifted off his shoulders, "but I do get a rush of 'love is real' when I see you, so good chance that the trust issues are temporary."

Connor stood up, slowly walked over to Mitchell and sat on the armrest. He was smiling softly the whole time. He lifted up his chin and kissed him - gently, slowly. Like they had all the time in the world to figure everything out.  
Mitchell only touched his arm and his first intention was to stop there, but the second Connor's tongue found its way into Mitchell's mouth, he let go of that idea and they both sank deeper into the armchair, laughing between the kisses.

"You like me," whispered Mitchell quietly. 

"No shit," whispered Connor back.

Mitchell had his arms around his neck and Connor's were on his lower back, crumbling up the fabric with his fingers.

"I don't think Will would approve," said Mitchell.

"Trust me when I say this, he would, Mitch, he would," Connor kissed his jawline and Mitchell threw his head back on the armrest.

"Do you wanna do something ?" asked Mitchell playfully.

"What does 'something' mean exactly ?"

"You know what."

"No, I don't."

"Well, then I guess we just can't do 'something' if you don't know what it is."

"Smartass..."

"Get up. Good, now sit down."

Connor looked at him with hungry lustful eyes when Mitchell got on his knees and unbuckled his belt. Soon Connor had hands full of Mitchell's hair and not long after that his thighs were shaking as if he was being electrocuted and he held his breath when he died.

His body turned to jello.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things took a bit of a turn at the end. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.


	10. Doncha Know ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last song for the last chapter is Doncha Know by Alicia Keys. Or You and I by Lady Gaga, I couldn't decide.
> 
> (By the way, did anyone listen to the songs ? I know that reading and listening to music at the same time disturbs some people, but I wanted to add a little creative pop to the fanfiction. Let me know what you think.)

„Don't look down.“

„The ground is hypnotizing me.“

„You're looking kind of pale, I'm telling you don't look down.“

Seconds after, both the grass and the long branches of the cherry tree were drenched in Mitchell's vomit.

„Did you vomit on the cherries ?“

„Is that the first thing you're gonna ask your sick boyfriend after he throws up ? Really ?“

„Did you ?“

„No and I'm eating all of 'em by myself. Later,“ the mere thought of food made Mitchell want to vomit again. He leaned forward, gripping the thick branch in front of him. Connor grabbed him around the waist and helped him climb down, making sure not to drop the cherry basket.

„You didn't tell me you were that scared of heights.“

„I'm not that scared, I just get a little dizzy, that's all. Which would be okay if we weren't balancing on tree branches,“ Connor handed him a water bottle to wash out his mouth. He collapsed on the part of the ground that wasn't covered in his stomach acids.

 

Connor laid down next to him and ate cherry after cherry, throwing the pits behind him.  
„How are they ?“

„Sweet. Like you.“

„Ew,“ he laughed, took a cherry from Connor and rolled it between his fingertips. The fruit wasn't completely ripe yet, it had a yellowish red color, which in Mitchell's opinion made it taste so much better than the overripe dark red ones. He didn't eat it yet, it wasn't worth throwing up all over himself again, so he turned on his side and watched Connor like he did so many times before.

He let his hair grow out for the summer, going from cute chestnut curls to a savage lion halo of light-washed ringlets in just two months. He didn't change that much since last summer, but there was more of a mature masculine charm to his face now.

Mitchell touched Connor's ribs and traced a few bones. Last summer, this kind of touch would electrocute them both. Now it felt like home, something you don't question anymore, instead you simply lean into it. 

Connor threw away another pit, moved closer to Mitchell and turned his face to him. He closed his eyes; a silent invitation to a kiss. Mitchell propped himself up on his elbow and slowly leaned down. He caressed his cheek with his thumb and watched the corners of Connor's mouth twitch when he did so.

„Would you just kiss me already ?“

„This is not a quick kiss kind of day.“

„I just remembered how you threw up only 5 minutes ago.“

Mitchell leaned down right away and kissed him hard. Connor pulled him down and rolled them over, pinning Mitchell to the ground. He pulled back to catch his breath.

„We're outside. A year ago I would've told you to stop,“ Mitchell said with a smile

„A year ago I would've told you to shut up,“ he kissed him again, savagely, the taste of cherries on his tongue and Mitchell felt like falling through the earth when he took off his shirt, vomit long forgotten.

„Happy anniversary, sweetness,“ Connor muttered into his ear when he reached into Mitchell's pants and wrapped his fingers around him. 

Mitchell bit his shoulder in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, it probably means that you've read the whole work all the way to this chapter. Thank you so much !! I enjoyed this fic a lot and I loved reading your comments even more. Please let me know what you thought about the fic overall, and if you have ideas for fanfics to come, please share ! (I already have an idea for one, I'm thinking it could be Jasico.) I always thought that the sole purpose of fanfiction is for people to enjoy it. It can be total trash, but even if just one of you enjoyed it then I'm happy. Anyway, I'm going to wrap this up, so once again, I love y'all and I hope that you enjoyed this mini-chapter and that you'll reach out to me soon !

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter !


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